The laboratory is the only complete Merlin lab of its kind in the U.S., and Professor Aaron Altman, director, advises the UD It Flies team as well as coordinates their April competition at the University of Dayton.

As a professor of aerospace engineering, Altman champions student designs ranging from crop dusters to military transport to light sport aircraft.

“The flight simulator,” Altman says, “empowers the students and gives them what the classroom cannot — a grasp as to the how and why a plane performs in a certain way. It is testing within a controlled environment.”

Air Force lieutenant colonels, majors and generals as well as U.S. Navy test pilots from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) "fly" the student-designed simulations and contribute significantly to the students' aircraft design knowledge.

"The test pilot feedback further enriches the experience by providing them insight into the world of handling qualities and flight testing that they then must incorporate into their designs," says Altman. “By integrating the simulator lab with the design process class, students understand how their design decisions affect the equations that determine the flight dynamics and handling characteristics of their airplanes."

"When taking the stick in the cockpit of the simulator and maneuvering the aircraft, the student quickly realizes how well (or if!) any oscillations dampen out as well as the oscillation period and amplitude,” explains Altman.

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Megan and Tim Reissman, mechanical engineering assistant professors, worked with Go Baby Go! at Northwestern before joining the University of Dayton and spearheading the Dayton Go Baby Go! impact. Now, we have a video of the Go Baby Go! Dayton event and effect.